When providing information (e.g., search results) in response to an online search query, it can be advantageous to know whether a phrase in the query relates to a particular location. For example, the ability to determine whether or not a query phrase refers to a location can be used to improve the quality of information provided in response to a query.
Some phrases in a query can be identified unambiguously as location-related phrases based on the phrase alone. For example, the phrase “San Francisco” when used in a query usually refers to “San Francisco, Calif., United States,” even if additional location specifiers, such as “California” or “United States” are not used in the query. However, it is more difficult to determine if other phrases refer to a location when used in a search query. For example, the phrase “Orange” often could refer to a citrus fruit, but it could also refer to a city or county in California, or a city in New Jersey, Texas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, Ohio, or New Hampshire.